Strike Through Text in Excel

Microsoft Excel is a widely used spreadsheet program that offers a range of formatting options to make your data visually appealing and organized. One such formatting option is the ability to strike through text, which can be useful for emphasizing deleted or no longer relevant information. In this article, we will explore how to apply strike through formatting to text in Excel.

To strike through text in Excel, follow these simple steps:

1. Open Excel and navigate to the worksheet or cell where you want to apply the strike through formatting.

2. Select the cell(s) or range of cells that contain the text you want to strike through. You can do this by clicking and dragging your mouse over the desired cells or using the Ctrl key along with the left mouse button to select multiple non-adjacent cells.

3. Once you have selected the desired cells, go to the Home tab in the Excel ribbon, where you will find various formatting options.

4. Look for the Font group in the Home tab, which is where the strike through formatting option is located. You will see a small button with an ‘ab’ icon, which represents the font formatting.

5. Click on the ‘ab’ button, and a drop-down menu will appear. In this drop-down menu, you will find the option to apply the strikethrough formatting.

6. Click on the “Strikethrough” option in the drop-down menu, and the selected text will instantly be formatted with a strikethrough line.

You can also use keyboard shortcuts to apply the strikethrough formatting quickly. Simply select the text you want to strike through and press the “Ctrl” + “5” keys simultaneously. This shortcut works in all versions of Excel.

If you want to remove the strikethrough formatting from the selected text, you can simply repeat the steps mentioned above. Select the cells with strikethrough text, go to the Font group in the Home tab, and click on the ‘ab’ button. From the drop-down menu, uncheck the “Strikethrough” option, and the formatting will be removed.

It is worth mentioning that strikethrough formatting in Excel can be used for more than just crossing off text. For example, you can use it to show that certain items are “out of stock” in an inventory spreadsheet or to indicate completed tasks in a to-do list.

Furthermore, if you want to apply strikethrough formatting to a specific part of a cell’s contents, you can use the formula bar. Double-click on the cell containing the text you want to strike through, and in the formula bar, surround the desired text with the following symbol: “~”. For example, if you want to strike through the word “obsolete” in a cell, you should enter “~obsolete~”. Press Enter, and the text will appear with a strikethrough line.

In conclusion, the ability to strike through text in Excel can be a valuable formatting tool to visually highlight deleted or irrelevant information in your spreadsheets. By following the simple steps outlined in this article, you can easily apply or remove this formatting option to make your data more organized and visually appealing.